Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
In addition your images must have a consistent
depth of field
. If you are
focused on the item you are Catching and the background is blurry in
your photos, keep this consistent throughout the shoot. Also keep the
orientation of the photos consistent. Choose either portrait or landscape
and stick to it.
How many pictures?
More pictures are not necessarily better. What is important is the regular
intervals and the capture of the overlapping angles of the object. Many
pictures will take much longer to process and if they are not capturing
the object uniformly, will still produce poor results. The optimal number
of pictures has been reported as somewhere between 20-55 pictures,
depending on the object. If you are using the iPad or iPhone you are
limited to 40 images.
Capturing detail
If you need to capture fine details, first capture the entire object at a
distance that fills the frame. After you have completed a full sweep of
the entire object, then move in and capture the details. Make sure that
you maintain the 50% overlap between the distance photos and the de-
tail photos, so that the software can still stitch the photos together. Be
careful when transitioning from shots of the whole model to detail shots.
Make sure to have transition photos that capture 50% overlap between
the transitions. Do not suddenly zoom in on the detail, as this will cause
your scan to either fail or will produce poor results.
“By taking a whole series of close up pictures just at one level, I got really
good 3D detail. Really good reproduction of very, very small depth.”
— Michael Curry(skimbal)
With some large objects, like statues, it may not be possible to get both very
fine detail and the entire object. You may need to capture the fine detail in a
separate catch. You will need to experiment. Occasionally, we have had
catches done this way completely fail on the iPhone application and a large
white X will appear after processing the Catch. Because it can take some time
to see how your catch turned out, always do one or two catches of an object
(especially if you are on a trip and may not return to it), just in case the first
one fails. If your Catch fails, consider capturing the entire object in one scan
and then creating a new scan with the camera zoomed in on the fine detail.
Don't be discouraged if your first few catches do not come out as planned,
keep practicing and you will quickly get a feel for the process and how to
minimize problems.
